If I Only Had a Brain
by Hoseki-sama
Summary: There are grand plans being made for the future, but no amount of preparation could have prevented this disaster...


I passed an Elder Brother on the return trip to my cave. I moved respectfully to let him pass by and endured his shouted jeer in silence. Elder Brothers and Elder Sisters know no better, but they too have value, in their own way.

It becomes hard to remain docile in the face of growing scorn for my species. Though that is not quite so galling as the great respect afforded to Elder Siblings, dolts that they are- their physical might and massive size are apparently quite worthwhile. Pah! Size means nothing without a mind to back it up and keep it in check. Luckily, they do not need minds of their own- they have ours to direct them, the intellects of their Younger Brothers and Younger Sisters- the Chosen Ones.

Far better to be Chosen than Starsent or Reefbred- or even Landwalker, as grand as it would be to see up close the strange sights our people must endanger themselves to catch confusing glimpses of. But it is of no consequence- if Landwalkers had any worth, they would have long since migrated to the cool waters. Clearly they are foolish, perhaps even more so than Elder Siblings.

A Meeting of the Minds will take place tomorrow evening. It is overdue- my own duties assigned at the previous meeting took but a week to complete, and it has been a month since then. I believe I will live long enough to see our rise to power, but if not, then my children and their children and so on will see it.

There is a disturbance outside. Perhaps it is nothing, but perhaps it is not- either way, simple investigation will not harm my person.

It is _not_ nothing. In fact, it is a monster with writhing grey appendages and a plated red-and-blue body. It is massive, though not as large as an Elder Sibling-several of whom it has disturbed with its gyrations.

I wonder how it came to be in our settlement. I have never seen a beast like this myself, though I have heard tales of similar monsters from the few Chosen who travel extensively and stop at the lagoon for news or company.

Some of the angered Elder Sisters are engaging the monster now, and the water is becoming even more disturbed. It would be better to withdraw into my cave and leave them to it-

Oh, _damn._

A blast of current strikes me squarely. I struggle pathetically against it, knowing the Chosen are doomed to lose battles of strength, and am swept away, up, into death's waiting arms.

I land on hot, gritty earth, but that is all that registers. I suffocate without cool forgiving water flowing through my gills and my mouth opens and closes uselessly, straining for the least little drop. Almost automatically, my body thrashes wildly, unable to move itself closer to the lagoon that is my home but trying anyway- I cannot see now, there is only violent noise and my dying convulsions. Even those fade away, and my final thought is that I have done what I can for our revolution, even though I could not die for it.

* * *

"Acid, Tentacruel, use Acid!" Andrew bellowed at his Pokémon. The trainer hissed in irritation- who would have thought a shallow-looking lagoon like that would have a whole nest of Gyarados?

He could just summon back Tentacruel, who was clearly struggling despite its advantage in level, but if he caught a few of the Gyarados- valuable beasts with high trade values on white and black markets alike- then he'd be all the more better off.

A stray wave from his Pokémon's wild thrashing drenched him and his companion, Armand- the Growlithe who had been his partner almost from the cradle. Andrew hissed again, yelled out another order to his Tentacruel, and started to take off his vest to wring it out. He was just about to begin his ministrations when Armand tugged on his pants leg, firmly gripping the fabric in his teeth.

"What is it, boy?" Andrew asked, looking down in concern. Armand never bothered him unless it was important. The Growlithe tugged again, and Andrew looked down the beach to see what might have caught his eye. All he saw was a flopping Magikarp, mouth gaping stupidly as it thrashed up and down.

"What, that? A dumb Magikarp?" Armand tugged a little harder. "You know I can't stand Pokémon like that. I mean, how dense can you get? I suppose it flopped its way onto the beach without realizing it needed _water…_"

The Growlithe dropped his trainer's pants and gave him a Look. Andrew looked back at the fish Pokémon, whose then down at Armand. He sighed. "_Fine_. God, you fuss over the least little thing…"

With practiced ease, he slid an empty Pokéball out of his pack and tossed it toward the almost-dead Pokémon, muttering as he did so, "Stupid Magikarp. Don't have a brain in their heads…"


End file.
